The Suzuki Equator Was a Nissan Frontier
When Suzuki wanted to try and find their way into the American pickup truck market, they had two options in front of them: the first was to dedicate some serious resources and time to engineering a truck that’s so good, it couldn’t be ignored, thus paving the way into the hearts and wallets of Americans who are eager to purchase the best pickup truck their budget can get. Option number two was to simply copy an existing model from another car maker and slap a Suzuki logo on it. Unfortunately, the Japanese automaker chose to go with the latter.
Suzuki contacted Nissan and asked to license their Frontier model and put their logo on it, which Nissan gladly agreed to. Let’s just say that this move didn’t go well, as savvy consumers quickly picked up on the scheme and avoided purchasing the Suzuki Equator. The only thing this scheme equated was the profit and loss balance for the Japanese automaker. The Equator was in production for just four years before being scrapped by Suzuki.
The Mitsubishi L200 Was Also a Rusty Pickup
The Mitsubishi Triton was one of the Japanese car manufacturer's only pickup trucks, and it definitely showed. This 1978 truck bears the same look like many of Mitsubishi's vehicles, albeit with a flatbed in the back. It was a compact pickup, very compact, with wheels that were not much larger than a regular car.
The Triton was sold in the United States as the L200, but it would have been more appropriately named if it was just called the Mitsubishi Rusty. Based on many accounts from truck owners, the truck would tend to gather rust underneath it in less than just a year after it was first purchased. For a country that prides itself on minimalism and technological superiority, it's quite a surprise that Rusty turned out so poorly.
Ram Rumble Bee Was Their Attempt to Glamorize Pickup Trucks
Dodge's Super Bee was quite a popular vehicle back in the day. These were a line of muscle cars that were produced by Dodge in the late '60s. The popular muscle car was then revived in recent years for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013 Dodge Charger Super Bee models. For some reason, in 2004, Dodge thought it would be a good idea to try riding on the popularity of the brand by introducing the Ram Rumble Bee.
Even if you manage to get over the weird name of this truck, the automaker must not have realized that comedy and retro is the last thing that pickup truck drivers are looking for in a market that primarily competes for reliability, power, efficiency, and price. This yellow ugly beast didn't survive for long and was quickly discontinued. If you're interested in buying a Ram, it's best to just get a regular one instead of this fat queen bee.
It’s a Good Thing the Nissan Navara Wasn’t Sold in the USA
The Nissan Navara went by various names, including the Nissan D22, the Nissan D23, and the Nissan D40. This pickup truck was sold all across the world, except in the United States. It appears that this one suffered from really bad rust problems that would infect the chassis just a short duration after it was sold.
This rust problem that was so prevalent in the Navara was obviously very risky and caused serious safety issues with the vehicle. This issue would literally cause the underpinnings of the truck to crack in two overtime, making it one of the least safe pickup trucks in existence. It's a good thing this thing didn't reach the United States, or Nissan would've gone bankrupt from all the lawsuits.
The Mazda Rotary Was Ahead of Its Time
This vehicle differs from the rest as it wasn’t exactly its mechanics that were problematic but rather the fact that it tried got a little ahead of itself and developed a technology that wasn’t fully usable at the time. The Mazda Rotary pickup was just that sort of car. It was basically the first and only pickup to ever feature a Wankel engine. These rotary engines work very differently from the way any regular engine does, which makes them both unique and potentially much better.
Despite their best intentions, Mazda must not have noticed that the year was still 1970, and it was way too early to try and introduce this kind of technology in a car that is supposed to be, first and foremost - reliable. Pickup truck drivers aren't exactly known for their attraction to revolutionary ideas, as most of them just look for sturdy resilience on wheels. All of this lead to the ultimate failure of the Mazda Rotary Pickup. On the bright side, that technology has definitely been picking up steam in the last few years, so perhaps this calls for a reboot. Ford makes one final appearance on this list with one of their worst trucks of all time. We bet you already know exactly which it is.